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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042195">On a Quest For Power</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/0nlyJourney13/pseuds/Journeys%20Fable'>Journeys Fable (0nlyJourney13)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red vs. Blue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Dragons, Dragons, Gen, Magic, Trans Lavernius Tucker, why are there two tags for Simmons?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:42:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/0nlyJourney13/pseuds/Journeys%20Fable</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A box canyon in the middle of nowhere. The safest place to be to get away from the wars. Too bad another group of dragons had the same idea.</p><p>---<br/>A dragon AU</p><p>It's 2020 as I'm writing this, ok?</p><p>(21/7/2020: rewrote prologue-chapter 5)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The dragons(so far)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>Also, Tex's spines were supposed to be light gray. Whoops.</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A white dragon concentrated on the blue rock in front of him, ignoring the searing pain flowing through him. He tried to keep himself from roaring in pain but it was no use. He stopped and panted, ignoring the older dragon scowling at him. “Again.” He growled. </p><p>Who was he to deny him? </p><p>Claws digging through stone, the young dragon tried again, roars of pain deafening. And then, the dragon dropped. </p><p>The older dragon, apathetic to the younger, inspected the stone. He could already feel some a weak power within it. But something stronger was also there. He gave the stone to a nearby dragon. “This is Washington’s.” He told them. The dragon purred in acknowledgment and flew off to the referenced dragon. </p><p>He then inspected the collapsed aberrant dragon. He was still breathing, though, blood dripped from his nose and mouth. He would survive to gift the world with his powers. </p><p><span class="pwa-mark decorator">Whether or not</span> he wanted to. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Awakening</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alpha awakes in a canyon in the middle of nowhere.</p><p>Btw I have the urge to put them in a different canyon called Greystone. Why? I actually don't know.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>An intimidating tall blue dragon covered in thick scales flew into a cave and dropped a deceased megatherium. The blue dragon with colorful markings was still unconscious. But he had shown signs of waking up. He stood guard at the cave, watching his plan play out. </p><p>Two groups fighting each other for a box canyon in the middle of nowhere. It is the safest location, though. Which is why Flowers was told to bring Alpha <span class="pwa-mark decorator">here.</span> </p><p>Finished eating the megatherium’s tail, Flowers went back to observing the smaller dragon as he twitched in his sleep. </p><p>The markings on his scales never ceased to amaze him. They looked like more than just markings. They were like symbols. Which is why Alpha’s existence <span class="pwa-mark decorator">is kept</span> a secret to most; out of fear that some dragons would think he was some messiah. Flowers wouldn’t blame them for thinking<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> that</span>. Maybe they were right. Maybe he was a god of some sort. </p><p>A day later and it finally happened. </p><p>“Where am I?” Alpha asked. “Take it easy little drake. You’ve had a rough few days. What do you remember?” <br/>
“I remember nothing. Wait, no…” Alpha scratched his head. “My name is Alpha and I have a sister, Carolina. She was a part of the Freelancer Faction. She got this power<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> and</span> it hurt her. And my dad was the king of that faction and my mom went off to war and she…” Alpha took a shaky breath. “She didn’t come back… I <span class="pwa-mark decorator">don’t know anything</span> else. Not where I hatched, or what happened to me before I came here.” <br/>
“That’s ok, Alpha. Maybe that’s for the best.” <br/>
“Do you know what happened to me?”<br/>
“Some religious dragons that thought you were a deity captured and starved you. Your father asked me to bring you here to this canyon to keep you safe.”<br/>
“Oh… Wait, why did they mistake me for a deity?” Flower’s laughed. “Look at yourself.” Alpha blinked and stared at the elaborate markings on its scales. “Uh-”<br/>
“You hatched with those, don’t worry.” </p><p>There was suddenly a crash followed by a wyvern’s roar. The two dragons stared out of the cave and a blue, muscular dragon surrounded by wood and rocks stared up at them. “Tucker did it.” The wyvern hissed and flew off.<br/>
Flower’s turned to look at Alpha. “Those are our friends. We came to this canyon because it’s safe and has the best prey around but then some other dragons showed up. The fight’s been harmless so far, though.” He explained. “Let’s go meet them.” They flew out of the cave.</p><p>“Meet Tucker and Caboose.” Flowers said once they landed.<br/>
Tucker had dark aqua scales with lighter diamond markings along her back and small horns near her eyes. “Whoa! Your markings look even cooler now that you’re awake!” She said. “No fair! You probably get all the dragonesses. Like, even I’m questioning my sexuality looking at them.” She made a purring noise. “No homo, though.” <em>“No homo?”</em> Before Alpha could ask about that, the bigger, solid blue dragon next to Tucker suddenly barked, “Oh my gods there's a new dragon!” Caboose suddenly said. “Yeah, he’s… How do I put this?-” Tucker started but <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was cut</span> off by Caboose. “So that’s Commander Lilac, and this is Tucker who is a boy even if the world wants him to be a girl, oh, and there’s Sheila!" He nodded to a nearby stone pillar Alpha turned to see the wyvern from before. She had a look on her face. One like a mother watching her hatchling fool around. <span class="pwa-mark decorator">“</span>She’s Caboose’s babysitter.” Tucker explained. “So, what’s your name?” Caboose asked. “Alpha.”</p>
<hr/><p>Meanwhile, at Red Base<br/>
“Hey,” a marron dragon covered in soft spikes (or <span class="pwa-mark decorator">quils</span>??) that went halfway down his back and had a rectangular head and a bird-like wing that lacked feathers and three toes on each foot grunted to a larger orange dragon with a nose horn and two horns on his head and a fin running halfway down his back starting from the top of his head and had large, bat-like wings and a dewlap on his throat. “You ever wonder why we’r-” <br/>
“Hey!” A small pink dragon cheerfully barked. He joined the two dragons on the top of the cave ceiling that jutted out from the canyon wall. “Donut reporting for duty!” The two dragons looked at the <span class="pwa-mark decorator">new arrival</span> in confusion. He had a crown of colorful spikes, a dewlap, and small wings. “Are you coming to join Red Team?” Simmons asked. “Yep! May I speak to whoever’s in charge?” He asked. “Sorry, man. Sarge is out right now. Nobody’s in charge for today.” The orange one said. “Actually, he left me in charge.” The maroon one said, changing to a more authoritative posture. “You are such a kiss-ass.” The orange one growled softly.<br/>
“Also, he told me if I have any trouble from you I should,” he slipped into an impression of the Red Team leader, “Snap off your wings and leave you to the sky’s mercy.” The orange dragon huffed smoke and turned to the newcomer. “Ok, what’s your story rookie?” </p><p>“Well, I came from a destroyed island in Glorisa and I worked so hard on my nest there so I came here hoping for a little peace in quiet.” </p><p>“Well, you chose perfectly, then.” The orange one said. “Nothing ever happens here.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I don't know how to write Captain Flowers help.</p><p>How did I handle Tucker being trans? I don't want to offend anyone.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Fools Errand</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Donut joined the two dragons in watching Red Team territory for intruders. He shared his experience with Glorisa. That continent was insane! Donut saw humans kill a giant sloth with only a couple spears while two <span class="pwa-mark decorator">titanoboas</span> had sex!<br/>
Though their ears flicked in response to Donut, they said nothing.<br/>
At some point, Grif, the orange one, laid down and leaned against Simmons’s haunch. Simmons made a slight hissing noise but did nothing. Donut had never seen two dragons show so much affection and trust in one another. It was a rare sight these days and seeing them gave Donut a little hope that the fighting would end… Eventually.</p><p>After some time, Simmons laid down too and Donut worried that everyone would sleep together while they <span class="pwa-mark decorator">were supposed</span> to be on guard. But Simmons soon got back up and said, “all right, listen rookie, we got a very important mission for you. Think you can handle it?” He asked. “Absolutely.”<br/>
“We need you to go get some wing sauce.” Simmons said. “Yeah and uh, bring back some <span class="pwa-mark decorator">bronto</span> necks, too.” Grif added. “You <span class="pwa-mark decorator">do </span>know where to find those, right rookie?” The pink dragon nodded. “Uh, yeah<span class="pwa-mark decorator">, of course</span>!” He said. “Well, get going, then.” Simmons said. The dragon nodded and took off. “Other way.” Grif barked. “Uh, yeah, I knew that.” Donut said, flying in the ‘correct’ direction.</p><p><em>“Wing sauce, how stupid do they think I am? Once I get back to base with those </em><span class="pwa-mark decorator"><em>bronto</em></span><em> necks, I’m gonna talk to the king.”</em> Donut thought.</p>
<hr/><p>The Blues were<span class="pwa-mark decorator">…</span>interesting<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> to say the least</span>.<br/>
Caboose was <span class="pwa-mark decorator">incredibly </span>dumb. He probably won a world record <span class="pwa-mark decorator">with</span> how dumb he was.<br/>
Tucker was always horny.<br/>
Flowers <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was</span> just flat out weird.<br/>
And Alpha could not figure out why Sheila was here. He flew to her pillar once; it was cold and nothing was there. So maybe she <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was payed</span> with food <span class="pwa-mark decorator">in exchange </span>for <span class="pwa-mark decorator">keeping an eye on</span> the Reds. Sometimes she would disappear though.<br/>
Speaking of disappearing, Flowers disappeared while Caboose was showing Alpha around Blue territory. Alpha already had a strange sense of wrongness with what was going on. Tucker said the Blue leader would be back soon, though.</p><p>Sheila made a distressed sound. She and Caboose were racing, and she had <span class="pwa-mark decorator">begun to glide</span>. “Caboose, leave her alone she doesn’t want to play anymore!” Tucker called. Caboose complied and landed near the other dragons, panting. “Guys, did you see how fast we were going!”<br/>
“Yeah, Caboose, real fast.” Alpha responded with little enthusiasm. Actually, since she was a wyvern, Sheila could dash across the canyon in thirty seconds if she wanted. So, she was probably just going easy on Caboose. Or Caboose was being an idiot and <span class="pwa-mark decorator">actually </span>believed that somehow, he was faster than Sheila. Who knows what's going on in that head of his.</p><p>“So I was like, that bridge is a wrecking ball!” Tucker said, purring. “Oh, what are you two talking about?” Caboose asked. “None of you business.” Tucker said.<br/>
Caboose was silent for a moment.<br/>
“… Can I make it my business?” He asked. “Look, Caboose, uh, how about you stand with the blue <span class="pwa-mark decorator">orb.</span>” Alpha suggested. “Why would I need to do that?” He asked. “Because, well, er, the General will <span class="pwa-mark decorator">be stopping</span> by to look at it.” Alpha lied. “When will he get here?”<br/>
“Dunno. It could be a few hours, to, hm, a couple moons.” Tucker said. <br/>
“You want me to stand next to an orb for moons?” Alpha was about to lie some more when Caboose went, “Oh, I can totally do that! I am very good at staying still! <span class="pwa-mark decorator">You will not be disappointed</span>!” And the big blue giant flew to the center of the three pillars. “Huh.” Alpha said. “Told you, complete idiot.” Tucker said.</p>
<hr/><p>Donut could <span class="pwa-mark decorator">not find anything</span> but he <span class="pwa-mark decorator">did find</span> a blue dragon and orb. Maybe he could borrow some from them. “Oh, um, you wouldn’t <span class="pwa-mark decorator">happen to </span>have any wing sauce you’d be willing to share, would you? Or <span class="pwa-mark decorator">bronto</span> necks?” He asked. “Oh, sorry, we don’t have any of that.”<br/>
“Aw man…”<br/>
“We have this orb<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> if you want</span>.” The dragon offered. “I can’t go back empty taloned so I guess this will have to do.”<br/>
He picked up the orb from its pedestal and it turned grey as he flew back to the Reds.</p>
<hr/><p>“Hey!” Caboose barked. “I just wanted to let you know, the General stopped by and picked up the orb.”<br/>
“Yeah, whatever!” Alpha said. “Wait.” He added. “What?” Tucker said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Awaken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, let me get this straight. You gave that guy our orb.” Alpha asked as they flew over the canyon. “Is that <span class="pwa-mark decorator">a bad thing</span>?” Caboose asked. “Oh no, that’s not bad.” Alpha said sarcastically. “Next time, how about you help him light the entire canyon on fire!”<br/>
“There he is!” Tucker barked. Alpha glided down to the pink dragon when Tucker hissed. “Wait! Flowers said to keep you out of trouble! Caboose, tackle that pink dragon!”<br/>
Caboose swiftly flew down and knocked the pink dragon out of the sky but he hadn’t let go, and swiftly regained his composure and continued flying. Suddenly, <span class="pwa-mark decorator">a large orange dragon</span> flew into Caboose, knocking him out of the sky. “Caboose!” Alpha barked. The two Blue Team dragons flew to their fallen teammate.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s going on?” Donut asked Simmons. “How did you get the orb?” Simmons asked. “I just asked for it.”<br/>
“That worked?” Grif asked. “Is it not supposed to?” Donut asked. “We don’t know. Never thought to try.” Simmons said. “Donut, we’ll fill you in later. Just hurry! Get back to the cave with the orb!”<br/>
“Ok.”</p>
<hr/><p>Meanwhile, in a partially destroyed, dimly lit castle, a stereotypical looking red dragon was rummaging through its horde. “Nope… Nadda… Nah, not gonna do…” The red dragon growled, kicking away a pile of gold. “How you doin<span class="pwa-mark decorator">’</span> over there, Lopez?” He asked. As the wyvern moved out of the shadows with a small amulet with the human symbol for fire, the dragon got his answer. He was doing much better than him.<br/>
The red dragon purred. “Let’s go Lopez, bring that necklace with us.”</p>
<hr/><p>“What on <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Darkstalker</span>’s Scroll is going here?” Sarge barked. Lopez made a hollow growl, like he was just as dissapointed in their team as Sarge was. Sarge shook his head. “Activate the amulet, Lopez.” For a split second, the dark brown wyvern looked shocked, and then he sighed and put the amulet on and roared to heavens.</p><p>Something in the sky shined..</p>
<hr/><p>“Caboose! Get up you big baby.” Tucker hissed, pushing the bigger dragon.<br/>
“Oh, five more minutes, Molly… Tell <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Mama I</span>’ll be there soon.” Alpha sighed. This was karma, wasn’t it? He blinked at how bright it suddenly became. Confused, he looked up and roared in fear. “Holy shit, Tucker!” Alpha bounded over to the aqua dragon.<br/>
Meteorites had appeared from nowhere and were coming down toward the canyon.</p><p>Something came over Alpha and he ran to the middle of the canyon and lifted his wings. The meteors never landed. Well, they did. But they only hit a shield.</p><p>Then <span class="pwa-mark decorator">everything went dark</span> for Alpha.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Freelancers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is he gonna be ok Director Snapdragons?” Caboose asked. The only time he had left Alpha’s side was to go hunting. And he <span class="pwa-mark decorator">wasn’t gone</span> for long. He also appeared threatening as he forced Tucker to remain by Alpha’s side and not to get up for <em>anything</em>.</p><p>“He will be just fine so long as he doesn’t pull a stunt like that again.” Flowers explained.<br/>
Tucker stood straight in front of Flowers, hissing lowly. “You better tell the fucking truth; did you know? Did you know that he was aberrant?” Flowers purred, and it made Tucker’s throat hot. “Those old stories of aberrants are exaggerated.”<br/>
“I noticed. But <em>did you know</em>?”<br/>
“Well if I told you, you wouldn’t have welcomed Alpha onto our team.” Tucker hissed, steam billowing from his nostrils, and breathed some embers onto Alpha.<br/>
Flowers <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was</span> right. He wouldn’t.</p>
<hr/><p>Alpha dreamed of tearing apart entire islands with just his claws. He dreamed that he was unstoppable and the wars would end thanks to him. But a large shape, something bigger than him, appeared. It looked and sounded familiar. A grunt sat at the top of his throat, but nothing came out. <br/>
Alpha didn’t know why but he broke off his own claws and horns until he had nothing left. The giant growled and Alpha, having nothing else to give… Alpha snapped his neck.</p>
<hr/><p>He yawned. Alpha looked around, everything was intact. The scent of smoke wasn’t very prominent. Was yesterday just a dream?<br/>
“Good morning, Alpha.” Alpha turned to see Flowers bringing in a few dead hadrosaurs. “How are you feeling?” The older dragon asked. “Fine. What happened yesterday?” Alpha asked, wings twitching. Before the blue leader could answer, Tucker and Caboose woke up, the former interrupting Flowers. “You saved the entire canyon from an out-of-nowhere meteor shower!” Tucker sounded amazed. “You are a superhero, Alpha!” Caboose said, bounding toward him. “Yes, that.” Flowers said. “You are quiet special, little drake.”<br/>
“I’m aberrant…” Alpha muttered, shocked. “You didn’t know? Well, Flowers did.” Tucker informed him. “I was told not to tell him for his own protection.” Tucker snorted. “From what? He can only summon a shield and then he passed out.” Tucker gave them both a suspicious look. “Unless…”<br/>
“I used to.” Alpha said, sounding hurt. “But something happened and now I can barely use them…” Flowers was silent as his tail flicked. “Flowers, what <em>happened</em> to me?” Alpha asked, sounding desperate. Flowers <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was</span> silent. “You <span class="pwa-mark decorator">aren’t gonna</span> tell me, are you?” Alpha hissed. “What!? Did you have something to do with it!?” Alpha growled and, when Flowers refused to respond, flew out of the canyon.</p>
<hr/><p>Church almost didn’t smell the oddly familiar scent through the fire he used to cook part of a <span class="pwa-mark decorator">megaloceros</span> herd. Through the flames, a black and purple dragon appeared, and thousands of things came rushing back to Alpha.<br/>
“Texas.” Alpha said. “Hey there.” She responded. “W-what are you doing here?” Alpha asked. “I could say the same for you.”<br/>
“Dad told Flowers this was the safest place for me.” Alpha said with a hiss. “Really? So that explosion I saw a while ago, perfectly fine.” Alpha purred, shaking his head. “Yeah, we didn’t see that coming.”<br/>
“Well, Alpha, it doesn’t seem like it’s very safe anymore. How ‘bout we ditch this place?<span class="pwa-mark decorator">”</span></p><p>Alpha went over what he knew about Texas. She’d go to some <span class="pwa-mark decorator">pretty </span><span class="pwa-mark decorator">great lengths</span> to get <span class="pwa-mark decorator">treasure</span>. She could be brutal to other dragons but Alpha doesn’t remember her ever hurting him. It’s fuzzy, but he remembers she tried to save him from something a few times.<br/>
“Yeah. Let’s go.” He said. As Alpha sat up, <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Growling was heard</span>. Alpha looked around and saw another, smaller black dragon. “Not so fast.” Alpha heard Flowers say from behind him. “I think us freelancers should have a talk, Tex.”</p>
<hr/><p>“Why are spying on your own teammates?” An orange dragon asked. “They are freelancers.” Alpha answered, ignoring the Red Team dragons spying on them. “Shh.” Tucker whispered. “Caboose, get the pink and orange guy to leave.” Alpha said. The three dragons swiftly flew away. </p><p>“I’m not letting you two take him.” Texas hissed. “I’m not taking him anywhere unless Leonard says so.” Texas turned her head to the black dragon with yellow stripes on his haunch. “What about you, cub?” <br/>
“Something is hunting freelancers. I came to warn Flowers.” <br/>
“So, you’re in charge around here?” Texas asked Flowers. “I’ll make you a deal. I don’t tear your heads off, and you let me stay with Alpha.” Flowers stared for a moment before huffing. “Deal.” </p><p>“<span class="pwa-mark decorator">Alright</span>.” Tucker said. “You guys gonna tell us anything? This seems like more than a sick dragon needing a place to hide.” Texas seemed to glare at the two other freelancers before looking back to Tucker. “Alpha, Flowers, Wash, and I are from the Freelancer faction, which his father was the leader of.” <br/>
“Some dragons stole Alpha’s powers-” Flowers said, being cut off by Tucker’s, “You can steal an aberrant’s power?” <br/>
“-and I am in charge of guarding him. I decided this was the safest place.” Flowers continued. “Me and Alpha were close. All this time I’ve been searching<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> and</span> I finally found him. I’m not leaving his side again. As for Wash, he was just doing his job.” Texas finished. <br/>
“<span class="pwa-mark decorator">NEW FRIENDS</span>!” Caboose purred loudly. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. KO</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We could have died too!” Grif roared. “It would<span class="pwa-mark decorator">’ve</span> been worth it. We would win the war and the demigod would be dead before it realized its full potential. And then we’d only have two freelancers to deal with.” Sarge reasoned. “Aberrant.” Simmons corrected with a growl. “All this arguing is stressing me out.” Donut said. “Im going to go sunbathe.”</p><p>Donut had been relaxing in the sun when he smelled an unfamiliar scent. He turned around to see Grif flying to him, presumably to push him off the pillar. But it definitely wasn’t Grif he smelled.<br/>
Suddenly, something was around his neck and <span class="pwa-mark decorator">he was pushed</span> toward the ground. A black and purple dragoness materialized before his eyes. He wanted to breathe fire, but <span class="pwa-mark decorator">her talon was wrapped</span> around his throat. Too risky.<br/>
Donut’s vision grew dark. </p>
<hr/><p>Grif crashed into the cave. “Some dragon just killed Donut!” He roared. “What!?” Sarge looked outside only for something to grab him and start choking him. A large black female dragon appeared as Sarge’s eyes closed. “Sarge, no!” Simmons was about to create a fireball but the  dragon just knocked him over. “Simmons!” Grif ran to the smaller dragon. His eyes fluttered open. “No, no, no, play…” Grif turned around. The last thing he saw was her smirking.</p>
<hr/><p>“Wow.” Caboose said. “She is really kicking their asses.”<br/>
“That’s Tex for you.” Wash said.<br/>
“So, she your mate?” Tucker asked. Alpha growled before deciding it would be fun to watch Tucker get rejected by Tex. Feigning hurt, he said, “Yeah, she used to be my mate before…” Alpha shook his head. “Huh, I can’t remember why she…” Alpha trailed off. He remembered another dragon. Something in Alpha’s mind compared him to the one in his dream. Al<span class="pwa-mark decorator">pha </span><span class="pwa-mark decorator">was tied</span> up somewhere and he couldn’t call for help.<br/>
He snapped out of the memory. “What?” Tucker asked. <span class="pwa-mark decorator">“</span><span class="pwa-mark decorator">We were separated by my dad</span>.”<br/>
“Guys.” Wash barked. “I think she’s in trouble.”</p>
<hr/><p>A grey orb rolled out of red base. Donut picked it up and saw the dragoness from before.</p><p>Without a second thought, he threw the orb at the dragon, instantly knocking her out. Something shined, and Donut stared curiously. </p><p>The dragon was wearing a ring on one of her horns. It held a very dark purple gem. Donut absentmindedly put the ring on one of his own horns and went inside to check on his teammates.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Missing Rage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Texas groaned as she woke up and looked around. “Tex!” Alpha purred. “How are your feeling, Texas?” Flowers asked. Tex growled. “I’ll be feeling better when that pink dragon gets cactus seeds lodged between his scales!” The freelancers purred. She was fine. But then her ears twitched. She shook her head and made a confused noise before reaching for her horns. “It’s gone.” She said. The freelancers seemed to know what she was referring to but Caboose asked, “what’s gone?”<br/>“Omega…” Wash said ominously. “The leader of the Freelancers found several gems with powers from aberrants. He gifted them to freelancers to <span class="pwa-mark decorator">make them stronger</span>. Tex’s power came from a purple gem called Omega. It’s what let her turn invisible.” Flowers explained. “That pink dragon must<span class="pwa-mark decorator">’ve</span> taken it.” Wash said. “Tucker, Wash, patrol the canyon. I will go spy on the Red’s and see what we can do.”<br/>“What about me, President Peony?” Caboose asked. “How about you and Sheila guard the canyon?” Flowers said. Caboose nodded and flew out.<br/>Flowers sent Alpha and Texas one last look before flying away. </p><p>The two dragons sat and silence for a while before Alpha said, “can I ask you something?”<br/>“Hm?”<br/>“What happened between us?” Texas had a sad look on her face. “Nothing. You just<span class="pwa-mark decorator">…</span>disappeared one day. I’ve been searching for you for ages.” The phrasing made Alpha shiver. He knew now that he gave up his powers. But something happened. Why else would Flowers be lying? And why did he feel so weak? Why did he slip into a coma?</p><p>Alpha sighed and looked at Texas before leaning toward her. When she didn’t growl at him, he <span class="pwa-mark decorator">made contact with</span> her scales and curled up toward her before pulling back for a second to ask, “you aren’t mates with Washington, are you?” Texas purred, “no.”<br/>“Ok, just checkin<span class="pwa-mark decorator">’</span>. ”</p><hr/><p>“Why are you so fucking vague all the time?” Tucker hissed at Wash as they flew above the canyon. “Look, what happened with the freelancers, its complicated.” Tucker couldn’t help but make a high-pitched growl but look away, scanning the ground. “Could you at least stop being so vague? Ominous? Mysterious? Dramatic?” Wash made an offended noise, “I am not!”<br/>“Yes you are, dude.” Wash growled lowly, but it didn’t sound like <span class="pwa-mark decorator">it was meant</span> to be a threat. “All of those things?” He asked. “Yep.”<br/>Wash suddenly stopped and flew lower, sniffing the air. Tucker did the same and there it was, the scent of two dragons. “What do we do?”<br/>“Simple.” Wash said. “Just ask what they’re doing here.”<br/>“What if it’s that thing that’s been killing your freelancer friends?” Tucker asked as they descended. “I know it’s scent. This isn’t it. We’re…” Wash trailed off once they got a look at the dragon. His horn <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was broken</span>, and <span class="pwa-mark decorator">he was covered</span> in blood and appeared malnourished.</p><hr/><p>Humans made their signature screeching noise as the two dragons flew over their territory, sniffing out flowers.<br/>Flowers just seemed attracted to humans. If there were wealthy humans, there were perfect flowers.</p><p>“Over here!” Simmons said happily, absentmindedly flicking his tail at any human that threw spears at him. He winced as a spear successfully lodged itself in his scales. Wasn’t Grif supposed to be distracting them?<br/>“Grif!” He barked angrily at the dragon casually laying on the other side of the steel barrier humans made to divide up their dens. “What?” He asked. “I’m keeping the humans away, aren’t I?” He made a meaningless roar to a group of iron-clad humans who still ran toward him. Grif just stood up and shook them off, blowing a plume of smoke at the humans. <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Surprisingly, they</span> still tried to fight him off. Simmons purred at the absurd scene. He could practically hear Sarge berating Grif for sinking in a sea of primates. Sighing, Simmons grabbed the saturated red, pink, and gold flowers. He continued to sniff around though. There was a calming scent in the garden that Donut might like. Or need. The dragon had a terrible temper lately. Something about the long, thin, purple flower Simmons sniffed out made him calm. Exactly what he needed. Clutching the flowers away from his mouth, Simmons blew fireballs onto the crowd of humans. “Come on, <span class="pwa-mark decorator">fatass</span>.” He barked. </p><hr/><p>“So, you have a secret relationship with Sheila, the Bues’s wyvern?” Donut asked. The brown wyvern gave a short growl. “Well, good for you!” There was no malice in the dragon’s voice. But then he suddenly gave a complete one eighty. “You better treat her right though!” He warned with a low growl. “I mean, so many dragons just leave their girl. Like their disposable tools. You better not do that to Sheila, ok!?” Donut’s growl was more fierce. “Male dragons are just so the worst <span class="pwa-mark decorator">when it comes to</span> relationships! Constantly ditching dragonesses and don’t even get me started to how they treat female dragons that helped build islands! They barely acknowledge them! Like, what’s up with that!?” Donut’s ears flicked and he sniffed the air. He was suddenly a lot less threatening. “<span class="pwa-mark decorator">Oooh</span>! What’s that smell!” He bounded out the cave like an excited dog. Lopez huffed in relief at the dragon’s absence. </p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Omega</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You ready to answer my questions?” Wash asked. The purple dragon nodded. “How and why did you come here?”<br/>“I’m just a loner. But then I found this dying female dragon. She was purple and green and she had terrible burn and bite marks. I tried to save her but it was too late. And then I felt this vibration<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> and</span> I saw a shimmer and whatever it was, it looked huge. I tried to fly away but… It’s all too blurry. I played dead<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> and</span> it seemed to work. All I remember was I wanted to get as far away as possible.”<br/>Washington suddenly became very agitated and without a word, flew off. “Well, that was weird.” Alpha stated. He dragged a sauropod neck to the purple dragon. “Thanks.” He said.<br/>“So, purple guy, what’s your name?” Caboose asked. “<span class="pwa-mark decorator">DuFresne</span>.”<br/>“I’m Caboose! That’s Alpha, and Tex!”<br/>“And Tucker.” Alpha added.<br/>“Stupid Tucker.” Caboose growled, earing a hiss from Tucker.</p><p>Flowers soon returned, looking startled. “The Reds are attacking!” Texas purred as the rest of the Blue’s flew outside. “It’s like that gem misses me.” She turned to Dufresne. “Stay here.” She said, before flying out<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> as well</span>.</p><p>Flowers flew up to her. “Where’s Washington?”<br/>“I think he got paranoid about the Meta and is circling the circling the territory again.” Tex explained.</p><p>DuFresne was curled up, trying to block out the sounds of dragons fighting each other when he felt a shadow cast itself over him. He didn’t dare open his eyes. The <span class="pwa-mark decorator">large shimmering dragon</span> came back to him. Was that why no one noticed the intruder? Or were they too busy getting themselves-<br/>DuFresne cried and held his wings up to shield <span class="pwa-mark decorator">himself.</span> And then there was a cheerful hiss. “I knew there was someone new up here. What’s your name!” The dragon pulled his wing away and DuFresne opened his eye. He saw a relatively innocent looking pink dragon who was even purring. “What are you doing up here?” Not feeling like talking, DuFresne opened his wing so the dragon could see his burn marks. “Oh, are you a prisoner?” Before DuFresne could explain that <span class="pwa-mark decorator">he was actually saved</span>, and would <span class="pwa-mark decorator">be leaving</span> soon so <em>please don’t kill him because he isn’t part of this war</em>, the dragons demeanor shifted suddenly, “I will kill them all.”<br/>“Wait, no!” DuFresne finally spoke. “They saved me. I’ll be leaving soon. I just accidently wandered into their territory.”<br/>“Oh.” The dragon finally seemed to calm down. “What happened to you, then?”<br/>“I’m not <span class="pwa-mark decorator">really </span>sure.” DuFresne’s wings lowered sheepishly. “It was almost invisible, but I <span class="pwa-mark decorator">caught a glimpse of</span> it. A <span class="pwa-mark decorator">really big</span> dragon. And as I was flying away, it attacked me. I played dead; I think that’s how I survived.” The dragon <span class="pwa-mark decorator">began to growl</span>, wishing to say something, when Texas jumped onto the pink dragon. “Give me back the gem!” They tussled around before something on the pink dragons horn sparkled and he managed to the throw the dark dragoness off him. “That much trouble for a simple ring?” The dragon said, its posture much more agressive. “Are you okay?” DuFresne asked. “Yeah.” The dragon shook his wings as Tex groaned, having been thrown into a wall. “I wasn’t talking about that. You just seem so, uptight?” Thank the gods, the pink dragon did not kill him. “Yeah, I have been more stressed out latley. I’m not really sure why.” Purring to show he did not intend to harm the dragon, DuFresne got closer and touched his tail to the pink one and wrapped his wing around him. The dragon went back into fight mode as Texas began to get up again. DuFresne swiftly grabbed the ring on his horn, having an intuitive feeling it was the cause behind the pink dragons mood shifts.<br/>Once the ring was safely in DuFresne’s talons, DuFresne felt immense power.<br/>Like he could fly beyond the sky, hold the moon in his talons, and bathe in the sun. If he really put his mind to it.<br/>This gem was his and no one else could have it.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Wow, I feel much better, now!” Donut exclaimed. “Are you a doctor? I should call you Doc!”</p><p>Tucker flew in. “Tex, are you-” Doc turned around and blew fire at the dragon. Tucker hissed as <span class="pwa-mark decorator">his scales were burned</span>. “What the hell-” Doc rammed into him, throwing him against the wall, grabbing his neck and throwing him to the ground. Tucker hissed, opening his mouth, but Doc breathed fire down onto his neck, creating patches of sensitive skin in some parts. Tucker roared in pain but Texas finally lunged at him and the two dragons fell out of the cave.</p><p>A few seconds later, Alpha and Caboose came in. “Tucker! Are you okay?” Tucker groaned. “Alpha, the purple guy, he’s-”<br/>“Yeah, I know, it’s the Omega crystal. I remember now. The powers come with a-”<br/>“No,” Tucker interrupted. “He’s an asshole.” Before Alpha could say anymore, there was a distressed wyvern call. Alpha looked outside to see Sheila, who’s wing was laying by her side limply. “Lopez!” A dragon roared. “What’s going on?” Donut growled. “The gem you stole? Makes people evil.” Alpha explained, before flying out of the cave.</p><hr/><p>Atop the Red’s cave, the purple dragon gave a triumphant roar, talons wrapped around Lopez’s neck. “The universe will be mine!” He said, grabbing onto Lopez and flying away.</p><hr/><p>“Reds!” Flowers barked. “Stand down, we’re coming in peace!”</p><p>The dragons stood in the middle of the canyon together. “Can you explain what just happened here?” Grif growled. “Your pink guy stole a gem infused with a power that also came with a side effect of making the user highly aggressive. And this other, purple dragon, who we were interrogating, took it, burned one of our guys and ran off with Lopez.” Alpha explained. “Wait, someone got burned?” Flowers asked. “Yeah, Tucker. He’s in our cave with the pink guy.” Alpha explained.<br/>“Caboose, go check up on Tucker.” Flowers said. “Ok, Violet.” Caboose said, flying off.<br/>“But we need Lopez for very specific reasons we <span class="pwa-mark decorator">don’t need to</span> tell you.” Sarge said. “And we need the purple dragon to get the gem into the right talons. And to ask him more questions.” Flowers said. “What do you say, champ? Temporary truce to fight a common enemy?” He asked. The dragon growled, “As much as I hate <span class="pwa-mark decorator">the idea of </span>working with a dirty Blue, I suppose I <span class="pwa-mark decorator">don’t have much</span> of a choice.”</p><hr/><p>“I can defend myself!” Alpha insisted. Flowers shook his head.<br/>“Hey!” Wash landed on the edge of the canyon. “What happened?” He growled. “The purple dragon took Omega and went crazy with power. He also kidnapped the Red’s wyvern.” Texas explained. Wash growled.<br/>“Meta?” Texas asked. “Didn't follow the purple guy.” Texas turned to Alpha and rubbed her scales against his. When she flew away, Alpha tried to follow but Wash stomped on his tail. Alpha snapped at him. “Let me go! I can fight!”<br/>“Last time you were in a battle, you panicked, used your powers, and passed out.” Alpha gave a low growl and snapped at Wash. Once his tail was free, he stomped off in anger.</p><hr/><p>The flight was going fine until a fog rolled in. “Stay close, everyone.” Flowers said. There were barks of affirmation. Texas had a bad feeling.<br/>It suddenly became a lot darker. Tex looked up to see a giant bird above them. And then everything went dark. </p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Rally Call</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun shined down harshly on the dragons. Plant life and water was nowhere to <span class="pwa-mark decorator">be found</span>. There was only sound and scattered human structures protruding from the sand. </p><p>“They destroyed it all, Simmons.” Grif growled. “They destroyed it all! Those damn apes!” Simmons rolled his eyes. “Calm down, Grif. We don’t know what happened, yet.”<br/>“I can see what happened pretty<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> clearly</span>. Humans finally took over and killed all life on <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Hearstia</span>.”<br/>“How about this: We explore more than a few miles before jumping to conclusions.” Simmons hissed. “It all started when a meteor hit and from it, came a powerful species of parasitic plant. It easily took over the continent but a group of dragons killed it. Or so they thought.” Simmons just stared as his friend went on a rant. “Eventually, the humans came and used it for their purposes but life finds away. It broke free from their control and wreaked havoc. But a <span class="pwa-mark decorator">talonful</span> of gritty survive held back the mindless hordes. Everything was looking good. But that was when the blizzard hit. And nothing survived.”<span class="pwa-mark decorator"><br/>…</span><br/>“You <span class="pwa-mark decorator">done</span>, now?” Simmons asked. </p><hr/><p>The bird disappeared as suddenly as it came. Alpha rushed out of the cave when his wings suddenly gave out and Wash pulled him back inside the cave. He had a feeling that Wash’s earring had something to do with it. “Where do you think you’re going?” Wash growled. “Tex! What if she needs help? Or Caboose? Or…” Alpha trailed off, surprised by his concern for the other dragons. Sheila herself gave a chirp of sympathy. Wash was silent for a moment before huffing. “I<span class="pwa-mark decorator">’m going to</span> check on Tucker and Donut.” He said. “Hold it!” Alpha barked. “Who even are you? You seem close to Tex! Who are you to her? What are you doing here in the first place?” Wash sighed. “She was the only other person who understood the horror us freelancers were experiencing.” Alpha growled, “stop being so cryptic and just tell me!”<br/>Wash sighed. “At first, you put some of your powers in gems. You <span class="pwa-mark decorator">made the decision</span> on your own. But you noticed that you’d lose a bit of yourself along with the power and decided the risk wasn’t worth it. But your father, our leader, didn’t agree. And <span class="pwa-mark decorator">you were separated</span> from us. And tortured until you agreed to give up more of your powers.” Alpha hissed. “How do you know this?”<br/>“One of your powers came with your memory.”<br/><br/>Alpha remembered a dragon with the innocence of a <span class="pwa-mark decorator">dracling</span> but the tenacity of a human. He was as bright as the yellow lightning-shaped markings on his hindquarters.</p><p>This dragon’s wings were heavy with hopelessness. And fury that refused to burn out. Alpha stared guiltily at his earring.</p><p>The silence that swept over them soon ended. There was a distant roar that Alpha recognized as Tex’s.</p><hr/><p>“<span class="pwa-mark decorator">What’d you</span> find?" Sarge asked. <span class="pwa-mark decorator">“</span>It’s <span class="pwa-mark decorator">DuFresne</span>-The purple dragon’s-hideout.” Texas explained.</p><p>The hideout was a sandstone temple. The size <span class="pwa-mark decorator">indicated</span> <span class="pwa-mark decorator">it was made by humans</span>. Most of it remained covered by sand but there was a crack in an exposed wall just large enough for a moderately sized dragon to squeeze in.</p><p>The black dragon gestured to a small green ball. “This is a bomb. I had to give up some valuable treasure to make this.” She said grumpily. “It’s made from cacti that explodes if lit on fire. I scouted out this temple and found a place where I can light it and bring this whole thing crumbling down on that dragon.” Sarge was about to ask something when-</p><p>“Tex!” Four dragons joined the group. “Church, what are you doing here?” Tex asked. “We heard your roar.” Tex and Flowers stared at Wash. “He’s stronger now.” Wash said. Flower’s suddenly looked to Alpha, a little agitated. Wash shifted focus back to Tex. “So, what have we missed?” He asked. “Tex has a bomb made with a cactus. We're gonna up this temple because the <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Dufensmirtz</span> is in there.” Sarge said.<br/>“Who?” Donut asked. “The purple guy.” Caboose said. “Oh, you mean Doc!”<br/>“Whatever his name is, the evil dude. She wants to blow him up.” Simmons said. “What?” Donut whimpered. “We can’t do that!”<br/>“Why not?” Tucker hissed. “He’s innocent. It’s the gem that’s the issue! We can’t kill him for something he can’t control!” Donut protested. The dragons looked at each other before they came to an agreement. “We’ve agreed that killing him is more convenient.” Flowers said. Donut let out a small bark, but said nothing more.</p><p>“So why do you need us for a bomb?” Sarge asked. “<span class="pwa-mark decorator">Icantpickitup</span>.” She said. “What?” Simmons asked. “It’s too heavy for me.” There was a beat of silence before the dragons purred in amusement. Sarge walked up to the bomb. “Move out of the way, princess. Watch how a real dra-Albatross’s talons, that is one heavy bomb.” Sarge growled, barely lifting it an inch. Texas purred, “told you.”</p><p>“I can lift it.” Caboose offered, walking up to the bomb. “I’m telling you, you’ll need at least two dragons.” Tex warned. “No, Caboose is like, insanely strong. I think it’s the gods’ ways of compensating.” Tucker said. And sure of enough, Caboose barked, holding the ball in his talons. “I did it!”<br/>“<span class="pwa-mark decorator">Alright</span>.” Sarge said. “Then we’ll storm in there, blow up <span class="pwa-mark decorator">DuFresne</span>, leave Grif for dead, and maybe find some clues on what happened to Lopez.”<br/>“You mean your wyvern?” Tex asked. “He’s in there with him.”</p><hr/><p>The brown wyvern groaned, wings still bound. He’d become numb to the pain of the ropes digging away at his scales.<br/>“He keeps asking me to worship something.” Said the purple dragon. He stared at the carving of a human surrounding by animals and plants. “I’m not <span class="pwa-mark decorator">really </span><span class="pwa-mark decorator">comfortable with talking</span> about religion in the workplace.” He muttered. He somehow gained the ability to read the movements of other animals. While O’Malley could feel their emotions. And other animals could understand them. O’Malley pushed the pain of their victims’ suffering onto <span class="pwa-mark decorator">DuFresne</span> so he could focus on the joy. <br/>“Oh no, here he comes.” O’Malley hissed. A red drake ran into the main hall. He looked like a dragon but lacked wings and they didn't know if he could breath fire. He made excited noises and bowed. He’d finished the duties they’d assigned him.<br/>“Polished all the weapons?” O’Malley asked. A nod followed by a joyful growl. “Burned all the corpses?” Another nod. “Great. How about you check all the traps? Make sure they’re all in working order.” The dragon gave an enthusiastic hop. There was something else in the dragon's movements and emotions. Something about a potential problem. O’Malley, <span class="pwa-mark decorator">put</span> on edge, went to investigate.</p><hr/><p>Texas hissed at the two dragons. “The biggest threat we know of is that building, and you don’t want me to blow him up?”<br/>“We can’t!” Simmons whimpered. “He’s part of our team.” Texas growled, “sorry, I’m not letting that gem get away this time.”<br/>“Why don’t you just pay her?” Tucker suggested. The two dragons stared at him curiously. “She’ll do anything for treasure.”<br/>“That’s not true.”<br/>“I’ll give you ten gold coins to twist Grif’s tail off.” Alpha said. Not even a second passed when Tex asked, “which ones Grif?”<br/>“See.” Tucker purred. “Well, we don’t have any money.” Simmons hissed as Grif subtly gestured toward him. “How about you trade favors, then?” Tucker suggested. “Yeah,” Said Alpha, “she does something for you, you do something for her.”<br/>“Well,” said Grif. “Lopez knows where all the greatest treasure is.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry, recent weeks have been exhausting for me and I felt a little burnt out. I'm trying to get back to writing more, though. Thanks for reading.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Temple</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dragons were getting into position inside the fortress. Caboose, Sarge, Donut, and Alpha crouched behind some fallen pillars while Tucker, Simmons, and <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Grif,</span> stood inside a hallway. Texas, Wash, and Flowers stood on the roof, ready to defend the morons.</p><p>“Wow, this has got to be the easiest infiltration ever.” Donut hissed. “Maybe for you.” Caboose whimpered. “This thing is heavy for me…” He groaned, dropping the bomb. “Careful with that thing, Caboose!” Sarge growled and turned to the larger dragon.<br/><em>Click</em><br/>Donut stared in concern at the wire Sarge stepped on. “Uh… Sarge?” He said. “You could blow us all to smithereens!” Sarge continued berating. “Sarge, I’m <span class="pwa-mark decorator">pretty </span>sure we just activated a trap.” Donut looked at the holes in the wall with worry.<br/>“If you want to blow us to smithereens, at least make sure Grif is nearby,” Sarge said, moving away from the wire.<br/>“Duck!” Donut barked as arrows flew toward them. They stood behind a <span class="pwa-mark decorator">pedestal</span> holding up a human statue. All except Caboose, who looked around. “Ducks? I love ducks!”<br/>“Get down, you idiot!” Sarge growled.</p><hr/><p>Tucker, Simmons, and Grif found themselves trapped inside the hallway as <span class="pwa-mark decorator">arrows were fired</span> from the ceiling. The dragons let out roars for help as they ducked their heads under them. The arrows soon stopped, though, and the hallway opened up. “Come out, hurry!” Wash growled. The dragons soon ran out, and the hallways closed up again soon after<span class="pwa-mark decorator">, the</span> whistles of arrows followed.<br/>As the dragons pulled arrows out of each other's backs, Alpha was practically bouncing. “Holy shit! I did that! I made that machine thingy stop! Holy fuck!”<br/>“Tucker, you and Alpha, and Tex <span class="pwa-mark decorator">go and </span>try to take out that other turret. Me, Flowers, and Grif will go look for Doc. Wash, go help Caboose.” Simmons muttered something about Sarge not being trusted to protect Caboose.<br/>“Why do I get my scales ruined and you get to play hide and <span class="pwa-mark decorator">seek.</span>” Tucker hissed. “The guy we’re seeking can rip our guts out.”<br/>“Oh.”</p><hr/><p>“Caboose,” Sarge started, “Take the bomb further into the temple. Try to find the area with weird stuff on the walls.”<br/>“Ok.” Caboose said, running off.<br/>Sarge turned to the pink dragon. “And Donut, I need you to be ready to carry the bomb when Caboose dies.”</p><hr/><p>They had run into nothing but dead ends and areas covered in sand. Tucker growled. He hated this temple.<br/>They flew above tiny, crumbling stairs, and into a small room. “I think this might be it!” Tex said. The others followed <span class="pwa-mark decorator">her</span> but as Tucker flew over, he failed <span class="pwa-mark decorator">the</span> noticed the floor growing weaker with each dragon, and he fell down. He <span class="pwa-mark decorator">was too startled</span> to fly again. The rest of the floor covered the hole. Tucker barked for help. “Are you ok!?” Alpha asked. “I’m ok. Fell down some kind of hole. Can you move some of this rubble out of the way?” Alpha stared up. “Uh, yeah, let me get Omega and I’ll be  back for you.” Alpha flew back up before Tucker could hiss at him.</p><hr/><p>"Okay, Grif, now we just need to fly through here,<span class="pwa-mark decorator">”</span> Simmons said, looking at the giant rotating blades blocking their path. “You go first,” Grif said. “Me? Why me first?”<br/>“Because I don’t want to die.” Grif hissed. Simmons barked, baffled, and turned from Grif and the blades. “But that thing is so slow! Look!”<br/><span class="pwa-mark decorator">The blades were connected</span> to a large wheel built into the wall. Sand covered the bottom of the wheel, as <span class="pwa-mark decorator">the temple had been left</span> in ruin. The blades moved up along the wall, their slow movements blowing away some loose grains of sand. <span class="pwa-mark decorator">Then,</span> the blade fell downward, as slow as a snail. Finally, it passed the floor, and once again started up the wall with a low whooshing sound.<br/>“<span class="pwa-mark decorator">…</span>It’s been nice knowing you, Simmons.”</p><hr/><p>Two drakes hopped in front of Tex and Alpha. But a blue dragon flew over them and slashed their spine. The wingless dragons writhed in pain before Tex and Alpha finished them<span class="pwa-mark decorator"> off</span>.<br/>“Tucker!” Alpha gasped, looking at the dragon’s tail. There was a cuff on <span class="pwa-mark decorator">it,</span> and coming from the cuff were leather bands that wrapped around his tail.<br/>Purring, Tucker flicked his tail, and blades made of blue energy appeared on both sides of his tail. “<span class="pwa-mark decorator">Pretty cool</span>, huh?”</p><hr/><p>Caboose fell down, having finally got the bomb to the room with the weird markings. “Caboose, just a-” Wash started, but he stopped at the sight of a white dragon in the room.</p><hr/><p>Meanwhile, an army of wyverns was making their way to the temple.</p>
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